Lakemba, NSW

A Lakemba school engaged us to build six wicking beds on a spare piece of land that caught good sun, to use as a teaching aid. It was an underused corner of the grounds with one real asset — light — and the school could see the potential to turn it into something productive. Six beds gave them a proper growing space to build lessons around, sited exactly where the vegetables would get the sun they need to thrive.

They also wanted two more beds set nearer the classrooms of the younger children, so the littlest students had a garden within easy reach rather than a walk away. And in a lovely finishing touch, we surrounded an existing lemon tree with a bed in the same style, so the established tree became part of the garden rather than an afterthought beside it — matching timber, matching lines, all of a piece.

Wicking beds are a great fit for schools, and the reason comes down to water. Each bed holds its supply in a sealed reservoir in the base, and the plants draw it up from below as they need it, so the garden doesn't depend on someone remembering to water it every day. That means the vegetables survive the school holidays — the single biggest hurdle for any school garden — instead of drying out the moment term ends.

A run of raised beds like the eight at this Lakemba school gives students across year groups their own space to plant, tend and harvest. Older classes can take on the larger beds in the sunny plot while the youngest work the beds by their rooms, and everyone gets genuine hands-on time with real vegetables from seed to harvest. Matching a surround to the existing lemon tree ties the whole garden together, so it reads as one considered outdoor classroom rather than a scatter of separate planters.

The warm South-Western Sydney climate makes the self-watering design all the more valuable. Lakemba summers are hot, and dry spells are common, but the reservoir keeps the beds growing steadily through the holidays and the heat, so students return to a thriving garden ready for lessons rather than a patch that has to be started again.

Best of all, it's a productive, low-maintenance outdoor classroom that needs very little staff time to keep going — exactly what a busy school needs. The beds quietly look after themselves between visits, which means teachers can use the garden as a teaching resource without it becoming another job on the list.

Quality underpins all of it. Every bed is built from kiln-dried, vegetable-grade timber with our food-safe iron-oxide finish — no cheap CCA pine near where the children grow their food — and these raised garden beds are made to last through years of daily school use, weathering gracefully rather than rotting out.
UrbanVeg builds raised garden beds and self-watering vegetable beds for schools across Lakemba and South-Western Sydney.

If your school has a sunny corner waiting to become a productive outdoor classroom, we'd love to help you plan it.